São Paulo postpones change in medication taxation for 30 days – 01/31/2023 – Market

After meetings with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, the Department of Finance and Planning of São Paulo extended the application of the new reference prices for taxation of the sector by 30 days.

The change in values, initially scheduled for August 2022, had already been extended to February 1st. It will now take effect from March 1st.

“During this period, Sefaz-SP will analyze the information and questions presented by the sector”, says the secretariat.

The price of medicines is expected to rise twice in 2023 in 15 states that have raised ICMS rates or reference prices for applying this tax. The change in local taxation will be added to the annual price adjustment authorized from April 1st for the entire country.

At the end of 2022, 12 states raised ICMS rates on various products, as a way to offset the cut in fuel and electricity tax. Medicines are among those items that will have an increase in the tax burden this year.

The new ICMS comes into force in March in seven states: Bahia, Piauí, Paraná, Pará, Sergipe, Amazonas and Roraima. The change takes effect from April 1st in another five: Acre, Alagoas, Maranhão, Rio Grande do Norte and Tocantins. Rates are currently at 17% or 18% in these locations. The new ones range from 19% to 22%, according to a survey by the company SimTax.

Two states made changes to the calculation base that are already in effect: Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. In São Paulo, the new base starts to be valid on March 1st.

Sindusfarma (Union of the Pharmaceutical Products Industry) sent a letter to 12 Treasury departments to ask for the maintenance of the current ICMS rates on medicines.

It also requested that the government of São Paulo postpone the application of the new reference prices to March 1st, because of problems detected in the list with the change in the calculation basis. There are cases, according to the union, in which the published price is above the maximum amount that pharmacies can charge the final consumer.